


Sweet Child of Mine

by Bellaromanza



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NCIS, Without a Trace
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 06:15:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7255819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellaromanza/pseuds/Bellaromanza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony has a huge secret. He kept it with the best of intentions but crime got in the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweet Child of Mine

Ziva’s head came up when she heard Tony’s phone ring.

“DiNozzo,” Tony said, then he smiled. “Hey baby, how are you?”

The female agent rolled her eyes. Another one of Tony’s women.

“DiNozzo! Get off the damn phone and finish that damned report on Seaman Riggs,” Gibbs barked, and Ziva smirked.

“Report’s on your desk, boss,” Tony retorted, then smiled at something he heard on the phone. “What’s that? Nah, that’s my cranky boss. Yeah, he definitely needs more coffee. Okay, later.” And he hung up, ignoring Gibb’s scowl.

“I’m not paying you to socialize, DiNozzo,” Gibbs growled. And that crack about being cranky was unfair, damn it.

“Good thing because I’d be underpaid,” Tony replied cheerfully, “And hey boss, there’s something on the old police report that had me confused.” He got up and went over to Gibb’s desk, pointing out what he’d seen, and with that there was a break in the case and they solved it that afternoon.

Later, Ziva sighed as she finished typing the report. Tony often played the playboy buffoon, but today’s case proved he was a sharp investigator and she kept forgetting that. One of the first lessons she’d learned as a Mossad agent, never underestimate your opponent, be it enemy or friend.

**

Juan Silvas whistled happily as he trundled along in the big landscape mower. It was just after lunch and if he kept going he’d finish this section of I-26 in record time and be able to go home early. He glanced to the right and shook his head. The way the kudzu grew was positively crazy, it covered everything. Literally. From the tallest tree to the smallest bush, to any unlucky building in its path, everything was all evenly covered with fist size green leaves and very strong vines, making a surreal landscape.

The bank was steep but not too bad, but he almost flew out of his seat when the mower hit something hard and jerked to a stop. “ Madre de dios ,” he said as he clutched his heart. That had scared the shit out of him. He opened the door and hopped into the mix of grass and kudzu and walked around to check out what he’d hit.

The forward motion of the big mower had dislodged a kudzu covered vehicle, and Juan yanked some vines off of it to see better. It was a burgundy Honda Accord that looked like it had been there for a long time, and when Juan peered into the windows, what he saw inside made lose his lunch. 

~~*

Tony was lazily flipping through a travel magazine when the elevator opened and everyone’s favorite, ~snort~ FBI agent walked in.

“Agent Di-No-zzo,” he called, his face serious.

Tony glanced over at Gibbs and both men got to their feet. “Fornell, what can I do for you?”

Fornell didn’t even tease, he just stood in front of them. “I need to speak to you. Alone,” he said to Tony.

Not knowing why Fornell would want him, Tony shook his head. “I’m sure you can say this in front of Gibbs.”

Gibbs eyed his friend cautiously. Something was up.

The FBI agent nodded. “Missing Persons in Atlanta called me. They’ve found the remains of Rebecca Temple.”

Tony could feel the blood drain out of his face and he didn’t feel Gibbs roughly sit him down in one of the office chairs. “Where?” he asked, almost whispered.

Sitting down in another one of the chairs and ignoring the fascinated audience of McGee and Ziva, Tobias sighed. “Highway crews were mowing on Interstate 26 outside of Columbia , South Carolina and hit her vehicle. She was still inside. The High Patrol said it looked like she’d been in the vehicle for the past seven months, her purse and suitcase were still there and there’s no evidence of foul play.”

“Ohgod, no one could see her from the interstate?” Tony asked softly.

Fornell shook his head. “Apparently her vehicle was completely covered by kudzu, and you know how that stuff is. It looks like she might have spun off the road during that big ice storm they had last fall, her vehicle was facing the highway.” He watched as Tony absorbed the information. “Do you want me to have them send her remains here?”

“Have they autopsied her yet?”

“No, they’re supposed to tomorrow,” Fornell said, immediately grasping what Tony wanted. “I’ll have them send her up here for Dr. Mallard, all right?” knowing he was right when he saw the nod from the younger man.

“Agent Fornell,” the Director walked down the stairs. “Is there something we can do for you?”

Fornell eyed the pretty redhead with only semi-concealed distaste, and didn’t stand up. “No Director Sheppard. I just had some bad news to deliver to Agent DiNozzo.”

“Bad news?”

“A friend of DiNozzo’s was missing and they just found her remains,” Gibbs said gruffly.

“Do you need time off, Agent DiNozzo?” she enquired, seeing the look of grief on his face.

Tony sighed. “No ma’am, not right now. But when the body is released I’ll need some time off to take care of her burial arrangements and stuff.”

“Very well, let me know when.” She looked at Gibbs who was hovering protectively over Tony, then nodded to Fornell and walked briskly back up the stairs.

“Thank you, Fornell,” Tony stood and held out his hand and the two men shook hands. “I appreciate you coming to tell me.” His body vibrated from being so close to Gibbs, and a sensitive Gibbs at that.

Fornell shrugged. “I saw the fax and recognized your name, it was the least I could do.” He nodded at Gibbs, “Later Jethro.”

Gibbs nodded back and looked at Tony. “Are you okay, DiNozzo?”

“No, not really,” he shook his head, then straightened his shoulders. “I need to talk to Ducky, I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Take your time,” Gibbs said to Tony’s back.

 

In the morgue Ducky was puttering around, arranging his tool when Tony stepped in. “Anthony,” he said with a smile, then frowned. “What is it?”

“They found Becky. Fornell was just here, he’s arranging to have her remains shipped up here for you to look at.”

“Oh my dear boy,” Ducky went over and grabbed Tony in for a tight hug. “We were afraid of this outcome.”

“I was hoping…” Tony trailed off. Ducky knew what he’d been hoping for. A miracle. Becky would never have just dropped out of her life, and he remembered when they’d first gotten together.

 

Peoria , Illinois 1992

Tony was pissed. More than pissed, heartbroken. He and Shawn had been lovers for a year, and now Shawn was gone, gone to Chicago and his big career in trading pork bellies or whatever, without looking back. Men were pigs, himself included. He threw back another tequila and slammed the glass down to arrange it by its three sisters on the bar.

“Your brain’s gonna ooze out of your ears,” the woman said. Tony looked over and saw a fellow cop, which made sense since they were in a cop bar.

“So’kay,” he said with a charming smile, “no brain, no pain.” He openly admired the lithe bodied short haired brunette. She reminded him of pictures of pixies he’d seen, except she was like 5’10” which would make her an Amazon pixie. Or something. Maybe he ~had~ had too much to drink.

Apparently she’d drank enough and thought he was charming and they’d fallen into bed together. Two months later they’d broken up, staying friends. Then one day she’d shown up on his doorstep in the middle of a freakish rain storm, the kind that makes you wish for an ark. He taken one look at her and dragged her in, thinking someone had died. 

“Beck? What’s the matter?” he’d asked, handing her several towel to mop herself off with.

She ignored the towels in his hands, water dripping down her pale face. “I’m pregnant.”

Oh yeah, two words that change a persons life.

 

*~*

The present-

Tony stepped back. “How am I going to tell her? I mean, do I tell her now, or do I wait until end of the quarter?” he asked Ducky.

Ducky looked at him pensively. “I believe that you should wait. A few more weeks doesn’t change the outcome of the facts, and this way it doesn’t disrupt her life while she’s at school.”

~Her~ was his daughter, Sara Marie DiNozzo Temple , the light of his life. Up until the moment she was born, Tony and Becky didn’t know if they could handle a child, but both were Catholic and would never consider abortion. The moment they’d seen her, crying lustily, dark hair swirled over her head and Tony’s eyes, they’d fallen madly in love.

Now she was a 12 year old tomboy, loved sports, hated pink in any form and read anything she could get her hands on. Sara was his heart.

A sigh. “Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. Thanks for the advice, Ducky.” Tony smiled at the coroner. “Will you tell Abby for me?”

“Of course,” Ducky cupped Tony’s neck before releasing it. “I hope to see her soon.”

Tony grinned. “Me too.”

**

Ducky unzipped the bag and he and Jimmy placed the remains onto the steel table. Jimmy shook his head, “She’s badly decomposed,” he said.

“That’s because she was locked in her vehicle in a semi tropical environment. And contrary to popular belief, cars are not watertight. Moisture can seep in around the window and trunk seals,” Ducky lectured quietly as he arranged the body. “It reminds me of a case…” and glanced up to see Tony step inside.

“Ohgod,” Tony said faintly.

“Tony, please leave. You don’t want to remember her this way,” Ducky said sharply.

Jimmy went over and gently turned Tony around. “Let’s go see Abby,” he said softly, escorting Tony out of the morgue. Ducky watched for a moment, then went to his phone and dialed Gibbs.

Abby was surprised at the tenderness Jimmy was showing Tony. Unfortunately that meant that Becky must be in bad shape. She handed Tony a glass of water and smiled at Jimmy, knowing it made his heart flutter when she was nice to him, “Thank you, Jimmy. I’ll take it from here.” Palmer nodded, gingerly patting Tony on his shoulder one more time before heading back to help Ducky.

“You okay, Tony?” she asked softly, rubbing his back while he chugged the water.

“No, I don’t think I am. It didn’t even look like a body, Abs,” he said, voice broken.

“Then don’t think of her that way,” Abby said. “Remember her the last time you saw her. Wasn’t she shouting at you?”

Tony chuckled. “Oh man, yeah. I got Sara’s ears pierced without telling her. You’d think I defaced the Mona Lisa,” he laughed again, then his shoulders began to shake and Abby made a mute sound of distress, wrapping a slender arm around his shoulders.

Gibbs stepped into Abby’s lab and saw Tony with Abby’s arm around his shoulder. Her face came up and the distressed appeal in her face made him walk over and sit beside Tony. “Hey, DiNozzo. Why don’t you come upstairs and help me with the budget requests? You know how I hate doing them,” he cajoled.

Tony accepted the Kleenex from Abby and blew his nose. “Sure boss. I show you what my football coach did, he was a genius getting equipment without breaking the rules.”

The senior NCIS agent watched carefully as Tony pulled himself together, wanting to hold him and help him through this, but Tony was straight, and Gibbs didn’t want a broken nose, or worse, Tony to leave. So, he worshiped from afar…the apt saying made his lips twist at the fanciful thought.

 

**

The soccer ball soared over the fence and Ashley sighed with aggravation. “ Brittany ! You did that on purpose!”

Brittany smiled smugly, “You have to get it, it went over the fence.”

Sara shook her head from where she’d been playing basketball. If Ashley got caught she’d have to do laundry for their entire dorm’s gym clothes. It was a nasty and creative punishment by their Principal, Mrs. Rylie. “Just leave it Ashley,” she called. “Mr. Adams will get it later.”

Ashley shot a smile over her shoulder. “I’ve got it.” She had a daredevil tendency that annoyed her parents and she scrambled over the fence, aware of the audience of girls at her back. She hoped she could get back over without being caught. Jumping down on the other side, she’d just grabbed the ball when a black car sped up, spitting gravel and almost hitting her. She shrieked with fright, but began to scream in earnest when three people in black got out of the car and grabbed her, then sped away.

Sara had screamed when the car almost hit her friend, but when the men grabbed Ashley and dragged her into the car, she raced for the nearest teacher while the other girls began to wail and cry.

**  
Tony was playing solitaire when Gibbs quickly strode in. “Ziva, you’re with me!”

“What is it, boss?” Tony asked, watching as Ziva grabbed her pack.

“SECNAV’s granddaughter was kidnapped from Foxgrove, it’s a private school north of McLean ,” Gibbs said and began to walk away.

“Gibbs, I should go too,” Tony said quickly, grabbing his backpack and jacket.

Gibbs turned to look at Tony in surprise. “Why? I know it’s a girl’s school but they’re a little young even for you.”

That hurt, but Tony didn’t acknowledge it. “Because I know couple of the families, okay?” he said sharply. “The girls will talk to me.”

McGee exchanged a surprised look with Ziva, but Gibbs gestured impatiently. “Fine, McGee, you and Ziva start doing a search on the girl’s family. Her name is Ashley Sheffield, aged 12.”

“She’s about 5’2” with long blonde hair and blue eyes,” Tony added. “Her father is Edward Sheffield Junior, his father is SECNAV and her mom is Amanda Court Sheffield.”

Gibbs was genuinely surprised by the amount of info at Tony’s fingertips, but he jerked his head. “C’mon DiNozzo.”

Tony had been totally against his daughter going to a boarding school. He’d been dumped by his dad and assorted step-mothers into boarding schools and hated it because he knew that his dad did it so they wouldn’t be saddled with him. It had taken pleading on Sara’s part, and a reasonable discussion by Becky, “We ~love~ Sara, we are ~not~ dumping here there, Tony!” to change his mind. And he was glad that he had, having her close like this had been the best thing in the world.

The trip to Foxgrove was silent, except Tony telling him the shortest way to the private school confirming that he did know where it was. Which was a puzzle to Gibbs, because since when did Tony have ~anything~ to do with the rich kids at an all girl school? His previous crack not withstanding. They pulled up to the school’s gate and an FBI agent stepped to the car.

“I’m sorry sir. There are no visitors being let in today.”

Gibbs held out his i.d. and the man made a face. “Just a moment, Agent Gibbs.” After a minute, the man waved them in. Gibbs parked beside numerous other cars, including several Federal vehicles and got out. An FBI agent glanced over and grimaced, saying something to his companion who grinned.

“Tony!”

Tony grinned. “Martin! What are you doing here? I thought you were in the Big Apple?” he eyed the limp for a moment then looked at his friend.

“I was here visiting my family when Dad got the call and dragged me along,” Martin said. He held out his hand to Gibbs. “Martin Fitzgerald, Missing Persons.”

“Jethro Gibbs, NCIS. What do you have so far?”

Martin pulled out his notebook and flipped it open. “Ashley Sheffield, aged 12…” he began but Tony stopped him.

“We know all of that Martin, how did it happen?”

The FBI agent made a face. “That’s the problem. We know she was picked up by three men in a sedan, but the girls that witnessed it won’t talk to anybody but somebody from NCIS, though we did get a license plate number.”

Tony groaned. “I’m going to kill her.”

The men looked at him in surprise, when there was a loud, “Daddy!”

Gibbs watched in total surprise as a pretty girl with a ponytail the exact color of Tony’s hair, school uniform and really ratty tennis shoes come up and throw her arms around his agent, whom he’d known for years, yet never knew he had a daughter.

“Hey Bear! Are you okay?” Tony pulled her close and hugged her until she squeaked in protest.

“Dad! You’re squishing me!”

Martin snickered. “Now I know why no one would speak to us.”

Tony pulled away from his daughter at that and glared at her. “Oh yeah, what in the hell is that about, young lady?” he growled but Gibbs could tell that she wasn’t in the least little bit intimidated.

“Swear jar!" she yelped but subsided at her father's glare. "You always said that the FBI can’t find it’s ass with either hand…” she stopped when Tony covered her mouth with a quick hand and groaned.

“Swear jar, back. Martin, I’m…never mind,” Tony shook his head. “Sara, this is my friend, an FBI agent that you ~can~ talk to. His name is Martin Fitzgerald. And this is my boss, Agent Gibbs.”

Sara smiled at Martin and gave Gibbs a thorough once over. “Hi,” she said, then grabbed Tony’s hand and began to drag him away. “Are you gonna find Ashley?”

Gibbs shook his head to clear it. “DiNozzo, go ahead and speak to the witnesses, I’ll co-ordinate with the FBI. Let me know if you find out anything.” Tony waved a hand, his attention on his daughter as she talked a mile a minute.

Martin gestured after Tony. “I’m, uh, going to go with Tony and see if I can’t get the girls to trust me.”

“Good luck with that,” Gibbs said as the younger men walked off with Tony’s daughter. Daughter. Tony had a daughter, and god, he was jealous. And didn’t ~that~ make him a shit head, because Tony didn’t know that Gibbs had a daughter once upon a time, a daughter as beautiful as Tony’s, one he cherished as much as Tony did.

 

Tony walked up and was immediately mobbed by the girls that the FBI had separated as witnesses. “Mr. DiNozzo! Mr.DiNozzo!”

“Ladies!” Tony said with a laugh, hugging and being hugged by the girls. He could feel the terror still trembled in them, and understood. Most of the girls at the school were daughters or granddaughters of important people, domestic and foreign Diplomats, various government agents, Congressmen and Senators. It easily could’ve happened to any one of them and they were scared. “Okay, let’s sit down on the grass. I need to ask you all some questions,” he said reassuringly. There were seven girls, and they sat down, pressing close like frightened rabbits for comfort.

“Okay, Sara, you start, then if anyone thinks of anything jump in, okay?” he asked, keeping his voice pitched low, running a hand over the hair of one girl who had tears in her eyes.

“Brittany kicked the ball over the fence on purpose. When Ashley crawled over the fence to get it, the car pulled up really, really fast and it almost hit her,” Sara said.

“It was a BMW 325i,” a girl piped up. “Tinted windows and I think it had armor plating.”

Martin was flabbergasted, “Are you sure?”

The girl rolled her eyes. “My step-monster is a lawyer and just bought one, I’m sure.”

Tony smirked. “Thank you, Leah.” He smirked at Martin's surprise.

Martin cleared his throat and Tony nodded. “Girls, this is Martin Fitzgerald. He works with Missing Persons in New York City but he’s gonna help find Ashley, okay?”

“Can you describe the people?” Martin asked and got a babble of answers. “Whoa! Hang on, first, how many?”

“There were four, the driver and three men,” a petite blond with a pixie hair cut said.

“They had all black on, with ski masks,” Sara added. “Not the kind that the skiers wear with the glasses things, but the wool kind like on that Seal documentary you watched, Dad.”

Tony nodded, watching as Martin wrote it down. “How about skin color, could you girls see?”

There was silence, then one of the girls said, “The two on this side of the car were white. I could see skin between their jackets and their gloves, and around their eyes.”

“Good, Erin, anyone else?”

Gibbs and Fornell had walked up and were listening with mild respect as the two younger agents questioned the girls.

“The one who grabbed her had dark skin and brown eyes,” Sara said excitedly. “And it was a girl."

“A girl, are you sure?” Fornell asked sharply and the girls went silent, their eyes going to Tony for assurance.

“He’s okay,” he nodded at Fornell.

Sara rubbed her cheek absently, “Yeah, I could see that she had long hair sticking out sort of, and breasts under her coat which kinda gave it away.” The other girls murmured agreement. Fornell moved off to relay the new information.

They kept questioning the girls and got approximate heights and weights before they were taken to their dorms. Sara squeezed Tony tightly before she left. “Find her, dad. Mom’s missing and now Ashley and I’m scared,” she said, dark eyes troubled before she followed her classmates.

“I’ll do my best, Bear,” he promised. As she walked away, the principal came over.

“Tony, I’m glad you’re here.”

“Hey Pat. Gibbs, this is Dr. Patricia Rylie, the principal here. Pat, this is my boss, Special Agent Jethro Gibbs.”

“We’ve met,” Gibbs said. He’d already interviewed her because it was beginning to look like an inside job.

“Tony, Sara’s been having nightmares again,” she said quietly. “We’ve got her speaking to Dr. DeLagrange, is that alright?”

“God, yeah. Let me know if it gets worse.” The principal nodded and went to talk to the FBI.

“Shit,” Tony said gruffly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Gibbs put two and two together, “Your friend is her mother? And you haven’t told her yet?”

Tony shook his head, lips pressed together. “Ducky and I talked and he agreed I should wait until the end of the quarter. It’ll be summer break and we’ll fly up to Peoria and bury Becky then.”

“Ducky knows?” The implied, ‘and you didn’t tell me?’ made Tony wince.

“Becky and I agreed that Sara should keep Becky’s last name to make her less of a target. And usually Foxgrove is safe,” Tony shrugged. He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “It’s gotta be someone on the inside, Boss.”

Gibbs looked at Tony seriously. “After this is over, we’re gonna have a talk.” About trust, and keeping secrets.

**  
They divided up the investigation with the FBI, Martin and his colleagues going to the parent’s house to wait for any ransom demands while NCIS did the footwork.

Back at NCIS, Tony was going over the statements, checking each page when something suddenly struck him. “McGee!”

Tim and Gibbs looked up. “Yeah, Tony?”

“What do you have on Brittany Janicek? She’s a sophomore at Foxgrove.”

McGee typed quickly. “Her father is dead, but her mother Elizabeth Daniels Janicek married Michael Hafiz, a low level diplomat from Syria about a year ago. Um,” he typed some more, while Tony began to get a feeling. “There have been several police calls to their home in Alexandria , domestic disputes that went nowhere.”

“Find everything on Hafiz,” Gibbs ordered. “From what he does in D.C. to what he ate for breakfast.”

“You got it, boss.” 

Tony picked up the phone and dialed. “Martin, it’s Tony. Can I talk to Eddy? Yeah, Ed Junior.” He waited, catching Gibbs interested eye. “We met at a bake-sale. He has a corvette the same year mine was.”

Gibbs snorted. Boys.

The younger agent smiled at Gibbs disdain. “Yeah, Eddy, Tony DiNozzo. What kind of connection do you have to the Middle East, maybe Syria ?”

On the other end, Martin listened in as Edward Sheffield talked about his work as a lobbyist, but they couldn’t find a connection to him and the Middle East . They’d have to keep searching.

24 hours later Gibbs watched as Tony was getting agitated, pacing distractedly as more clues came in but no sign of Ashley. The senior Agent understood why now, the younger man had let it slip that the missing girl was his daughter’s best friend, which meant twice the pressure and responsibility on his shoulders. All of which made Gibbs wish he could shoulder some of that burden. 

 

**

Ashley screamed as gunshots rang in the air. She tipped the chair she was taped to over, making herself small on the ground, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as the sound of bullets, screaming and moans sounded around her. Something wet and warm splashed her face and she wanted to barf because she knew it was blood. When all sound ceased, she played dead, hardly breathing as someone walked through the carnage.

‘Ohgodohgodohgod, I want my daddy’, ran through her mind as she stayed completely still. Unable to help herself, she opened her eyes just a slit and caught sight of gym shoes, but didn’t want to move. It seemed like eternity when the footsteps receded and the door slammed shut.

**

Gibbs watched through the window as Tony sat across from Brittany , wondering why people abused their children like this. She was scarred for her life, it was written in every jerk, every muscle of her body, the fight or flight response to danger.

“Britt,” Tony began, his eyes compassionate. “We know you kicked the soccer ball over the fence deliberately. And we know why.” They’d found Elizabeth Daniels Janicek shot to death in her expensive Washington home, her husband missing, presumably one of the kidnappers.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her voice thin and high.

“Oh honey,” Tony said sadly. “It’s okay, you were trying to protect your mother. We know you had no choice,” he said, and she broke down into sobs. It was heartbreaking to listen to, the year of abuse she’d been forced to watch, then to endure until her mother tried to fight back. The story poured out of her, how her step-father threatened to kill her mother unless she promised to do exactly what he said. It was a torturous hour of sobbing and Tony was wrung out by the time he’d calmed her down.

As he was about to leave the room, she sat up, “Mr. DiNozzo?”

He turned, “Yeah, Brittany ?”

“I overheard Michael on the phone. He said something about Las Vegas .”

**\\\

“Man,” Greg said softly as his flashlight played over the carnage in the abandoned warehouse. “Looks like someone was unhappy.”

Brass snorted. “Unhappy would be an understatement. We have five victims, four males, a female and a young girl. According to the airport police she was duct taped to a chair. It happened between 24 and 48 hours ago.”

“Kidnapping gone wrong?” Greg swung his flashlight towards to Grissom who was frowning at the blood.

“I guess we’ll find out after we follow the evidence, Greg,” Grissom said, "Can we get the..." then trailed off as Greg held up his hand for quiet.

“Did you hear that?” Greg hissed a whisper and Jim and Grissom obediently fell silent, trusting the younger ears of the CSI agent.

“Help me…”

Greg made his way quickly but carefully to the young girl, the beam of light from his maglite catching her in the face, making her wince at its brightness. “Griss, we need an ambulance! She’s alive!”

Jim was cursing under his breath as he made his way back out, there were gonna be some asses chewed for not properly checking the victims while clearing the scene, no doubt about it. Grissom came up, minding the scene carefully and helped Greg right the chair.

“Hey, we’ve got you,” Greg crooned as he carefully cut through the duct tape, not going near the original cuts which were evidence. He looked at Grissom, who nodded for him to carry on. “We’re going to need to take a picture of you, okay honey? It’s for evidence, then we’ll clean you up and get you outta here.”

“O-o-kkay…” the girl sobbed, tears streaking through the blood caked and brown on her face. Grissom made it mercifully quick and they got her undone, ignoring the ripe smell of body waste. There was no telling how long she’d been in there, lying in the dark with the dead all around her.

“What’s your name?” Greg asked as he wiped her face, watching out of the corner of his eye as Grissom carefully led the paramedics through so they wouldn’t contaminate the crime scene.

“Ashley Sheffield,” she said softly, keeping her blue eyes on his.

“Hey Ashley, nice to meet you. I’m Greg, your knight in shining armor,” he teased and was delighted to hear the giggle in return.

Grissom raised an approving eyebrow and the men helped the EMT's get her on the gurney, Greg holding her hand until the paramedics made to leave. “So Ashley, as your knight in shining armor, I need to stay here and find out what happened, okay? But I’ll visit you in the hospital. Actually, one of my friends, probably Sara, will see you first, but I’ll be there later, I promise.”

“My best friend’s name is Sara,” Ashley said softly, her eyes starting to droop.

“See you soon,” Greg said softly, patting her hand and letting the paramedics take her away.

“You did great with her,” Grissom said.

Greg shrugged and opened his kit. “Poor kid has gotta be scared to death.” The light finally flickered on, and the death looked worse with the uncompromising fluorescent lights illuminating it.

With a sigh through his nose, Grissom pulled out some bags for evidence, “Let’s get to work.”

**

Sara stepped inside of the curtained cubicle and smiled. “Hi Ashley, I’m Sara. Did the nurse explain what I’m going to do?” Thank god it was only routine evidence collection and not a rape kit.

Ashley nodded. “Uh huh,” she replied, subdued and quiet.

Sara kept up a patter of nonsense, talking about the white tigers at the Mirage, the fountains at the Bellagio, anything and everything until she was finished. As she put the last of the items in a bag and sealed it, she smiled at the girl. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Ashley was a little loopy from the pain meds she’d been given, and wasn’t sure who to trust. There was Greg, but someone else’s name was pushing her and she shook her head. “I want to talk to Mr.DiNozzo,” she whispered.

Cocking her head, Sara eyed her with confusion, “I don’t know anyone named DiNozzo.”

“He works for NCIS, he’s my friend’s dad,” Ashley’s eyes closed and she slipped into a restless sleep.

**

Tony strode down the hospital hallway, Gibbs at his shoulder. They’d arrived at Nellis AFB after a phone call from the Vegas CSI’s that they’d found Ashley, alive. Brittany ’s information had already pointed them in that direction, but apparently someone beaten them there.

Greg stood nervously as the two men, obviously law enforcement, came towards him. He flicked a look at Grissom who also stood, “Hey, you guys looking for someone?”

Tony eyed the man with the CSI vest and the cool hair. “We’re looking for Ashley Sheffield. I’m Special Agent DiNozzo of NCIS, and this is my boss, Special Agent Gibbs.”

“Oh good, Ashley asked for you,” Greg said. “I’m Greg Sanders and this is ~my~ boss, Gil Grissom.”

Gibbs held out a hand. “I knew I recognized you, Dr. Grissom. I attended your lecture the last time you were in DC.” It had been an excellent lecture on the life cycles of insects and their role in solving crime.

The CSI smiled. “I remember. It’s good to see you again, Gibbs. Unfortunately not under these circumstances.” Gibbs grunted acknowledgement.

“How’s Ashley?” Tony asked. They hadn’t been told her condition and as a father he had been imagining the worst case scenario.

“She’s gonna be okay,” Greg said. “When we found her she was dehydrated, hungry and her right arm has a hairline fracture, but they’ve got her on i.v. saline and stuff to take care of that. She wasn’t assaulted,” he saw the relief in the NCIS agents eyes and understood. “She won’t speak to anyone but you and we need to hear what happened.”

Tony looked at Gibbs and the older man nodded. “You go in with Sanders and interview her, let her know her parents will be here soon. I’ll catch up on this part of the case with Dr. Grissom.”

Ashley’s face lit up when Tony and Greg stepped into her room. “Hi!”

Tony sighed, ignored his shaking hands and went over and gently smacked her on the head, making her giggle. “They have rules for a ~reason~, you knucklehead.”

Her face fell at the gentle rebuke and when she started sniffling Tony pulled her in for a fierce hug. “We were really worried about you. Sara has been seriously bugging me to find you. Seriously,” he drawled like a surfer boy, imitating the cartoon character Motor Ed from Ashley and Sara’s favorite cartoon Kim Possible. His antics made Ashley giggle some more.

Greg watched with fascination as the NCIS agent spoke to the girl, gently asking detailed questions and getting everything that she could remember, letting her know that they’d not stopped searching for her for a minute and wouldn’t have, which made her beam.

After she wiped her eyes and blew her nose, she smiled at Greg. “Hey, it’s my knight in shining armor!”

He grinned back. “I just came by to check on you,” he made a face. “Crap, I forgot. I’ve got something for you, just a minute,” and Greg dashed into the hallway then dashed back in and handed her a multi colored gift bag. He watched as Ashley cooed over the violet and rainbow winged unicorn, and felt like king of the world.

Outside of the room Tony smiled at him. “That was nice thing you did, Sanders.”

Catching Grissom’s smile, Greg blushed slightly. “What happened to her sucked. I hate when it happens to kids,” he said quietly.

“Yeah,” Tony agreed, then he turned to Gibbs. “She said she played dead and didn’t see who shot everyone, boss. They grabbed her at the school, then injected her with something that made her go to sleep and the next thing she knew she was throwing up,”

“She said barfing,” Greg pointed out with a smirk.

“Same difference,” Tony rolled his eyes. “~Anyway~, they gave her water and duct taped her to the chair and not more than a couple of hours later the gunman came in and took everyone out.”

Grissom frowned thoughtfully. “Inside job, someone they trusted.”

“Someone who thinks Ashley is dead,” Tony pointed out and Gibbs nodded.

“We’ll get the FBI to put someone on her. Fornell is good for something now and then.”

“Hey, now that you mention it, why haven’t we seen this on the news?” Greg asked curiously. The girl was the granddaughter of the Secretary of the Navy and a relatively famous minister, for goodness sake.

“We didn’t want it known,” Gibbs said simply. “Now that we’ve got her back, we’ll keep it quiet and hope the gunman doesn’t realize his mistake.”

“Gotcha,” Greg said seriously.

There were miscellaneous shoe prints and fingerprints but nothing substantial to link their mysterious gunman at the crime scene and no hits on AFIS which meant the trail went cold. The kidnappers however, were all found to be linked to Al Qaeda in some fashion, and between Homeland, NCIS, the FBI and the Las Vegas P.D. they had a long shot theory that someone wanted to make an example of SECNAV after a daughter of one of their religious leaders had been hit and killed by humvee driven by a sailor while stationed in Djibouti. Why the gunmen had killed his compatriots was a mystery.

~**

Gibbs lounged on the hotel couch and watched as Tony called his daughter.

“Bear, yeah, this is dad. She’s okay.”

Jethro smiled when he heard the squeal over the phone.

“Her mom and dad said she should be back in a few days and you can call her at home, okay?” Tony fell silent as he listened to her, smiling a bit.

“Uh huh. Did you study for your test in science? Yeah, how did you do? 89? Not bad but I know you can do better,” he said, then rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know you’ve had a traumatic week. What’s that? I’ll be back tomorrow. I love you too. Hey Bear, how are you sleeping?”

Tony went quiet so long that Gibbs sat up on the couch to see if he was okay. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. Talk to Dr. Delagrange, okay? Yeah, love you too, night.”

“Tony?”

Tony collapsed on the side of one of the beds and dropped his face in his hands, shoulders shaking. It wasn’t fair, Sara had been such a happy go lucky girl, until her mother disappeared, now Ashley’s kidnapping on top of it and she was falling to pieces. He snorted a watery laugh, apparently so was he.

“Sh, sh. It’s okay,” Gibbs wrapped a strong arm around Tony, pulling the younger man’s head to his shoulder and let him cry it out. God, if only Tony weren’t straight…He rubbed circles on the broad back, relishing the feeling of being able to be this close even if it never happened again.

Tony shuddered, skin burning where Gibbs’ hand rubbed his back. God, if only the comfort offered was more than fraternal. He sighed and stood up, not catching the look of longing on Gibbs’ face as he moved to the window and staring at the Las Vegas lights.

“Kids should come with a manual,” he said, wiping his face with his handkerchief.

“I know,” Gibbs agreed heavily, remembering his beautiful daughter.

“I’m sorry, boss, but until you’ve had children you can’t possibly understand,” Tony said, unaware of the acute pain his boss was feeling. “When they’re born you promise to protect them from everything and then you come face to face with your failure and wonder how in the hell you ended screwing everything up?”

“Not know? Not ~know~?” Tony heard Gibbs say, the older man’s voice cracked with pain and he turned, stunned to see white faced anguish on his normally stoic boss’s face.

“I had a daughter too, DiNozzo! Her name was Kelly and she was the light of my life! Until the day I failed to protect her and her mother and they were murdered,” Gibbs said softly, bitterly, blue eyes distant with remembering. “I had a daughter too,” he finished with a whisper.

“Ohgod,” Tony went over and wrapped his arms around Gibbs, damn the consequences and held him tightly. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he whispered over and over into the trembling man’s ear. He couldn’t imagine losing his Sara, not ever.

Gibbs had never felt so out of control, emotions see-sawing all over the place and his body reacting to the extreme closeness of Tony’s body. Desperate he turned his face, blindly seeking Tony’s mouth, and finding it. Hot, heat and wet, and god, all overlaid with Tony’s scent and flavor. After a minute of the most devastating kiss he yanked back, staring at Tony.

“I’m sorry. Oh, damn it.” Gibbs was terrified that he'd fucked up royally.

Tony, whose body was thrumming with love, arousal, and not a little bit of confusion at the fact that his seemingly straight boss had just tried to suck his face off, pulled him back close. “Don’t!” he ordered, “just don’t. Don’t be sorry, not for this.”

“Tony?” The look in Tony’s eyes had hope blooming in Gibbs’ black and emotionally shriveled heart, hope that he was loved and wanted and cherished in return, “Tony? he asked again in a shaky whisper.

“Can I call you Jethro?” Tony joked softly. “Or do you I need to call you, ‘Boss’ in bed too?”

“God, Tony,” Gibbs whispered harshly and he captured Tony’s mouth again in a harsh kiss, yanking the younger man’s shirt out of his pants and jerking it open, the sound of buttons pinging off of furniture not even registering. Tony’s husky laugh only further inflamed him and he dropped to his knees and ripped open the dark blue designer trousers, yanking them down and roughly pulling Tony’s hard cock out, then swallowing it.

“Ohshit!” Tony burbled in shock, his voice cutting off as his orgasm was literally sucked out of him, making his body jerk uncontrollably and his vision blur at the edges.

With a final swallow, Gibbs got back to his feet, hanging onto a boneless Tony while he frantically undressed himself, kicking his pants away as he pulled the younger man close. “Please, can I be inside of you?” he panted desperately against Tony’s cheek.

Guh… only Tony’s dream come true! “Now, please, yes, ohgod,” he moaned. 

He found himself on his back on one of the queen beds, Gibbs between his legs and slick fingers in his ass, and his cock waking up with a vengeance. He arched and those fingers slid in deeper, “In me now, for godssake, Gibbs!” he demanded breathlessly, then whined as they slid over his prostate, sending streaks of color through his vision. It wasn’t foreplay, it was ferocious need.

“Just a second,” Gibbs growled, slicking up his cock and pushing against Tony’s hole, eyes rolling back as the head of his cock breached it, sinking in, hands twining with his lover's as they joined.

There was thrusting, legs sliding together, grunts and groans, kisses that were sharp and sweet. Tony enjoyed the tiny ones that caressed his face as Gibbs went impossibly deeper, striking everything all at one and making him cry out. 

“Oh, oh, oh Gibbs!” and he pumped come all over between them. He opened dazed eyes and watched Gibbs throw his head back and jerk his hips as he filled him, beautiful oh so beautiful, silver hair spiky with sweat, skin glowing, muscles straining passionately. “Yes…”

Gibbs found himself lying on top of his lover, nose pressed against the fluttering pulse, hands still together, fingers still entwined and he strived to figure out what he was feeling. Oh sure, sexual satisfaction was on the bottom of his list, but then there was love, sudden, but he knew it was serious, then there was fear, Tony had a daughter, (could he deal with another little girl in his life?), then there was that love again, topped with the knowledge that it was too damn late to change it and why in the hell was he worrying about it?

He lifted his head and stared down at a sated Tony. “Tony...”

Tony’s eyes blinked slowly open, and he smiled. “Back at you, boss.”

**

Tony sat on the side of the bed and stared blankly. Gibbs was asleep, looking younger than his years. Actually, Tony didn’t care how old Gibbs was, it was his heart that he loved. And if it was just him, he’d jump into a relationship with Gibbs feet first, no reservations, but there was Sara to consider. How would he tell her? Hell, he still had to tell her about her mother’s death, how could he tell her that he’d fallen in love with a man?

“Mm, Tony?”

He felt a work roughened hand gently touch his back, and swallowed hard. “Go back to sleep, Jethro. It’s still early,” he whispered.

Gibbs murmured something and settled back down, which wasn’t surprising, he’d woken him up twice and they’d made love.

He pushed to his feet and grabbed his cell and went into the bathroom, dialing his lifeline.

“Mmf, whattimzzit?”

“Sorry, Abs. It’s early,” Tony said quietly. He winced, it sounded like his voice was echoing off of the tile walls.

“Tony? Are you okay?” Abby sat up in her coffin and rubbed her eyes. It wasn’t that early, but her alarm hadn’t gone off yet and it was the principal of the thing.

“I’ve got a problem, Abby. I need your advice.”

“Shoot.”

“I…” he paused, “I slept with Gibbs,” and winced as her squeal almost broke his ear drums.

“Really? Excellent! It’s about damn time,” she said enthusiastically.

That’s the bad thing about best friends, Tony scowled. They know everything and aren’t above rubbing it in your face for their own amusement. “You could’ve told me that Gibbs wasn’t straight!”

“No, I couldn’t because I didn’t know. Though the Bossman has always been very aware of you, if you know what I mean?”

Tony sighed and sat on the toilet seat. “But what am I going to do about Sara?”

Abby blinked and sat upright in her coffin. Ah, this was the crux of the matter. “I think you should ask her what she thinks about sex, and go from there. She’s bound to have had sex-ed classes, right? So expound on those.”

“Geez, you’re kidding right? I was hoping to ~never~ have this conversation with her. Her mom was supposed to talk to her,” Tony’s voice broke.

“Hey, Sara’s smart, she’ll be copasetic. Just don’t break the Bossman’s heart, okay?”

Tony sighed. “I wasn’t planning on it, just freaking myself out. Thanks, Abs.”

“Anytime, ‘Sex machine’. Now go back to bed and do the wild thing, make like bunnies, the beast with two backs, the…”

“Good ~night~, Abby,” Tony laughed, rolling his eyes at the college nickname and closed his phone. He felt massively better as he crawled back into bed.

“How’s Abby?” Gibbs murmured as he snuggled closer to Tony’s slightly chilled body.

Psychic. The man was fucking psychic. “She’s good.”

“Mmf. Do ~you~ feel better?”

Tony rolled over and faced his lover. Man, how hot was Gibbs? Even scruffy and rumpled from sleeping. “I’m scared, boss. I mean, I’ve got to consider Sara in all of this. And you, ‘cause I know it’s not easy for you, after what you told me.”

Gibbs propped his head up and regarded Tony fondly. “I’ve already thought about this, and I’ll agree to any decision that you make. Sara is number one in all of this.”

Absurdly grateful, Tony leaned forward and kissed Gibbs hard on the mouth, then let it soften. “Than you,” he said.

“You're welcome, now go to sleep. I don’t know about you, but I’m beat,” Gibbs ordered, smiling when Tony did just as he said, sliding effortlessly into sleep. He shouldn’t be surprised, Tony could sleep anywhere, just like him. He stared, watching, his heart full of emotion. His one hope was that all of this didn’t blow up in their faces, because he desperately wanted it all.

*~*’

They’d been together for a month. A month of sleeping in each other’s bed, of learning each other’s secrets, long enough for both men to realize that this was it. There would be no one else for them, they’d finally found that missing part of themselves in each other.

Lying in bed after an incredibly difficult case, Gibbs gently ran his fingers through Tony’s hair. This was one of Tony’s favorite positions, his body between Gibb’s legs and his head on Gibbs chest.

“Why so quiet?” Gibbs asked softly.

There was a brief pause in Tony’s breath, then he let it all out with a soft whoosh. “Thinking about Sara.”

“Ah.”

“I think we should tell her right away,” Tony said, nuzzling his nose in the baby soft chest hair.

Gibbs fingers tightened briefly in Tony’s hair. They could lose everything if Sara didn’t like him. “Okay.”

Totally aware of what was going on in his lover’s mind, Tony wrapped his arms around Jethro’s waist and hugged tightly, getting an ‘ooomph’ for his efforts. “It’ll work out, you’ll see.”

Not as sure as Tony, Gibbs pressed a kiss into the dark hair and sighed. “Can I ask something?”

“Anything.”

“Why did you keep her a secret?”

Tony snuggled and closed his eyes, listening to the solid thump of Jethro’s heart under his cheek. “Becky and I agreed that we didn’t want my dad or step-mother number whatever to have anything to do with Sara. My real name wasn’t on the original birth certificate; I used a friend’s name. Yeah, I know, fraud, but we fixed it when it was safe. We just didn’t have the connections then to fight my family. Now I do.”

“Abby and Ducky?” Jethro asked because it still rankled that they’d known and he hadn’t.

“Abby’s my best friend, boss. And there were times I needed a female perspective, and I sure as hell didn’t want Ziva to know,” Tony sighed. “It’s not like I don’t trust Ziva, I…” he trailed off uncertainly.

“You didn’t trust her with Sara,” Gibbs said simply.

Tony snorted. “I guess. I told Ducky because I needed a referral from a doctor for getting her into Foxgrove and I know I can trust him implicitly. And Ducky and Abby are family. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid…”

Gibbs stiffened and raised Tony’s chin so he could look into his eyes, “Afraid of me, why?”

“Because I had a reputation to maintain, and being gay in the armed forces, or ~working~ for the armed forces can get you kicked out or worse. And you were a Marine, boss.” Tony sighed gustily. “I guess if you knew that I wasn’t dating all of the time, but was visiting my daughter, then you’d wonder about the rest…kinda stupid, huh?”

“That deserves this,” Gibbs said and he slapped Tony on the back of the head. Not so gently either.

“Ow,” Tony whined and smiled into Gibbs chest when a kiss was deposited onto the same spot.

*  
Sara checked her final answer and then flopped back onto her bed.

“I think I’m done, finally! I hate math with the fire of a thousand burning suns!” she griped and Tony looked up from his laptop with a smile.

“Good, do you still want to go to Olive Garden?” he asked, laughing when her stomach growled.

“Yeppers,” she said, bouncing up to put her stuff away.

Tony made to stand, then sank back down into his seat. “Bear?”

“Yeah, dad?” she answered from under the bed where she was digging for her gym shoes.

“I, um, I’ve met someone.”

Sara pulled her head out and regarded her father curiously. “Is it serious?”

“Very,” Tony nodded. Serious, god, so serious that even if Sara didn’t like Jethro, he wouldn’t give him up without a fight.

She slipped her shoe on, think as she tied it. “Is it a man or a woman?” and laughed when her father’s eyes went wide. “Mom told me you were bi.”

“Man, I miss her,” Tony said with feeling. “And it’s a man. You met him when Ashley disappeared.”

“The cute FBI agent?” she asked.

Tony smirked at the thought of Martin. “Nope, my boss.”

“Mr. Gibbs?” Sara frowned slightly. “He seems kind of, you know, anal.”

“Sara Marie!” he yelped then shook his head at the giggling from his daughter. “And yes, he’s kind of set in his ways but he likes kids a lot and would really like to get to know you better. And boy, I wish your mom was here,” he said again.

Sara climbed up beside him and leaned against him. “She’s dead, isn’t she?” she asked softly. Her father froze, and that gave her her answer.

“I’m sorry, baby. She skidded off of the road and died of an aneurysm. They found her body about a month ago but I wanted to wait to tell you,” he said as he hugged her tightly. “How did you know?” How did she guess? What can he do to make it right?

She sniffled and hugged him tightly back. “‘Cause every time you would call you’d mention that the FBI were still keeping an eye on her cell phone records, or her credit card records, but lately you haven’t said anything.”

“I’m so sorry,” Tony whispered into her hair and he felt her start to cry and wished with all of his might that he could take her pain away.

Sara cried quietly for a bit, but finally sighed and pulled back so she could blow her nose. “At least we finally know. It was the not knowing that made me mad.”

“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “So, how about we fly to Peoria next week and bury her by Nana and Poppa?”

“Okay,” she agreed, “So, let’s go eat, I’m starved!”

And Tony blessed the ability to bounce back that kids seemed to possess. He knew that this was the end, that there would be nightmares and more tears, but for now, he'd take what he could get.

**

It was a warm day, the skies were an impossible blue, and the grill was smoking merrily away when Abby came up and wrapped an arm around Gibbs waist. “Stop worrying, bossman.”

Gibbs smiled at her, kissing her on the top of her head. “Thanks Abs, but you love me in spite of myself. What if she hates me?”

“Not possible,” she said stoutly. “You forget, she just wants Tony to be happy, and when she sees how happy he is? It’ll be a slam dunk!”

Ducky smiled at them as he brought out a huge tray of vegetable to be grilled. “How are you faring, Jethro?”

Gibbs rubbed his stomach. “I’m nervous,” he unwillingly admitted.

 

Tony glanced at his daughter who was riding in the passenger seat, jeans, Baltimore Orioles t-shirt and her dark hair in a pony tail. He was going to be beating off the boys with a baseball bat very soon.

“You okay?” he asked her.

“I’m nervous,” she said, pressing a hand to her stomach.

He reached over and took her hand, “You’re a great, if disturbed kid. He’ll love you.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “Oh, thanks Dad. I’ll remember not to use ~you~ for a reference.”

Chuckling, Tony pulled into Gibbs driveway behind the truck. Sara scrambled out and squealed at decibels more appropriate to jet engines, “Abby!”

“Hey Bear, how are you?” Abby asked as she hugged Sara to her.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Will you tell me the truth?”

Tony looked at Abby and she shrugged as she met his eyes. “I always tell you the truth, Bear. What’s up?”

“Is Mr. Gibbs a good man?” Sara asked her friend seriously.

Abby raised a hand. “I solemnly swear that Gibbs is an opinionated, grumpy, picky man who had an unfinished boat in his basement and cares for your dad very much.”

“Thanks for the ringing endorsement there, Abs,” Gibbs dry voice said from the door.

Tony grinned and went up to him, giving him a kiss that made Gibbs eyebrows raise. “Hey.”

Boneless goo. That’s what Gibbs’ backbone turned into when faced with Tony’s bright smile. “Hey, yourself.”

“Jethro,” Tony said formally. “This is my daughter, Sara. Sara, this is Jethro.”

Sara and Jethro regard each other steadily, to the amusement of Ducky who’d just come out, and Abby who could see everything click into place right in front of her.

“Hi, I’m Sara,” she said, holding out her hand. “Do you really have a boat in your basement?”

Gibbs felt something loosen in his chest and he took Sara’s hand, shaking it solemnly. “Hi, Sara, I’m Jethro. And yes, I have a boat in my basement.”

With a grin, Sara asked, “Cool! Can I see it?”

Memories momentarily overwhelmed Gibbs, but he nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Dad said you were a Marine sniper. Think you can teach me?” she asked, her hazel eyes bright with interest.

Oh, this was definitely Tony’s daughter and he was already falling in love. “You bet,” he said with a smile.

It took two weeks to get the schedule worked out right, but Tony, Sara and Gibbs flew up to Peoria and buried Rebecca Marie Temple with full police honors, next her mother and father. And as Sara dropped the lush rose onto her mother’s grave, she said a quick prayer of thanks to her mom for giving her and dad, Jethro. 

 

**  
The man cursed his knees as he got up from his prayers. He was deep in thought as he brewed himself a cup of coffee, then cleaned his gun, making sure it was ready to go. He’d located the missing piece to his puzzle and until he’d taken care of it there was the risk that everything would come unraveled. He couldn’t have that.

*~*’

The Reverend Doctor Branfield Court, head of his own religious television station and well known for his ultra conservative beliefs, was bitching about a children’s book that was titled, ‘My Daddies and me’. His son in law rolled his eyes at the latest rant.

“It’s immoral and perverted! That someone would publish this garbage and aim it at children! Homosexuality is an abomination to God!” The honorable Reverend Doctor Court thundered.

“Grandpa, how can it be bad if God made us all?” Ashley asked curiously. “I mean, my best friend has two dads, and they work for NCIS and solve crimes and make sure terrorists go to jail and stuff. How can they be bad?”

Eddy exchanged a startled look with his wife, and they both opened their mouths to say something when Court exploded.

“Our government is paying for homosexuals? For perverted sick, evil men to work in our law enforcement community? I forbid you to have anything to do with this girl, she’s obviously sick and perverted to believe that having two fathers is normal!” he shouted and Ashley began to cry.

Amanda threw down her napkin and stood up. “That’s enough, dad. We’re her parents, not you! You will not dictate to us who we let our daughter be friends with.” Eddy shook his head, preparing himself to enjoy the sight of his wife kicking ass as he got up to console his sobbing daughter.

“I cannot believe that you would condone this abomination, Amanda,” Court barked.

“This ~abomination~ as you so rudely put it, are two of the men that saved Ashley’s life, and I would kiss their feet everyday in thanks for it if they’d let me!” she fired at her father.

“I taught you better than this,” he snapped back.

Amanda shook her head. “No, dad. You taught me that God wasn’t a bigot,” she said gently. She went over and kissed Ashley on the head, then pinned her father with a glare “Please leave. You know the way out.”

**

Jen Sheppard was going through reports when her phone rang. “Director Sheppard.”

“Director Sheppard, this is Reverend Branfield Court .”

Her eyebrows went up and she wondered why the famous minister would be calling her. “Yes, sir. What can I do to help you?”

5 minutes later, cheeks flushed with humiliation, she quickly headed down the stairs to where the NCIS teams worked. As she walked all that she could think was that she’d been betrayed.

*~*

“Agent Gibbs, Agent DiNozzo!” she snapped.

Gibbs looked up at her and stood, while DiNozzo merely glanced over at her. For some reason that enraged her even more. “You will stand when I’m speaking to you, Agent DiNozzo!” she spat, watching as he insolently stood.

“Jen, what in the hell is the matter with you?” Gibbs asked with annoyance.

She could tell that they were the center of attention in office but couldn’t restrain herself. “As of now, you and Agent DiNozzo are out of a job for inappropriate sexual behavior!” She saw the men exchanged amused glances.

“You might as well spell it out, Jen,” Gibbs replied mildly.

Her cheeks flamed. He was making her spell it out to humiliate her in front of everyone. He’d known that she’d wanted to renew their relationship. 

“You and Agent DiNozzo have been accused of being on the same team and having a homo-sexual relationship.”

“Oh, that,” Gibbs said blandly. Then he smiled wickedly and went over to DiNozzo and pulled him into a passionate kiss, while the rest of the NCIS agents whistled and clapped in amusement.

 

She’d stood there with her mouth open like an idiot. When the kiss ended, she’d wanted to go over there and shoot Gibbs, but instead had said, 

“Pack up your things. Agent David will escort you out.” And she’d fled to her office to lick her wounds, pretending to ignore the triumphant smile on DiNozzo’s face.

 

*~*

Sara was humming the latest Taylor Swift song under her breath as she packed. She was going to her dad’s for the summer. She looked up as Ashley came into their room and grinned. “Hey, are you ready?”

Ashley, mostly recovered from her kidnapping 2 months previously, nodded enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to go to Busch Gardens ! It’s been forever since I’ve been!”

“Are you gonna be okay staying with me? ‘Cause I know your grandpa is pretty upset,” Sara asked softly. She had been angry at the attack on her parents and a little mad at Ashley. She loved her father and Jethro. They’d both been there for her when Tony had told her of her mother’s death, and the three of them had flown to Illinois to bury her mother. She’d always miss her mom, but now she and her dad had Jethro.

Ashley jumped onto Sara’s bed. “I don’t care if they’re gay, they’re just your dads to me,” she shrugged. Her dad and mom had sat her down and made sure that she wouldn’t be uncomfortable with Sara’s dads, and she wasn’t.

~*

Tony smacked Gibbs hand as it crept into his crotch again. “Would you stop? You can fuck me silly after the girls go to bed.” He grinned at his lover who was smirking at him.

They were truly enjoying the time they had together. The firing had not stopped offers from multiple law enforcement agencies from flowing in but the men had decided to take the month off to spoil Sara rotten and consider their options. Neither man was poor, Tony had a trust from a beloved grandmother, and Gibbs, despite three ex-wives, had invested well so they were in no hurry to decide what they were going to do next.

“Hey,” Tony said as they pulled into the long gravel drive of Foxgrove. “Did I tell you Fornell called? The schmuck wanted to know where to send the wedding gift,” he reported, voice indignant though his lips twitched with humor.

Gibbs laughed. “What did you tell him?”

“That I’m the one ex he’ll never get his hands on,” Tony informed him dryly. Gibbs was still laughing as they got out of their car.

There was a gaggle of girls in the large parking lot, all talking at the same time as they waited for their parents, and or nanny’s or caretakers, to pick them up for summer vacation. There was also the unobtrusive presence of new security, which Gibbs approved of. 

“Daddy! Jethro!” Sara squealed and ran across the parking lot to throw herself into their welcoming arms.

Jethro closed his eyes against sudden tears at the uninhibited kiss he got from the happy girl. God, he was the luckiest man in the entire world. He opened his eyes to see the warm eyes of his lover staring at him and he smiled down at their daughter. “Hey, Princess. You’ve grown again! We’re gonna have to put a brick on your head.”

“Nuh-uh,” Sara smiled. She loved when he teased her.

“Where’s Ashley?” Tony asked as he glanced around curiously for his daughter’s friend.

“She’s coming,” Sara said as they walked to get her suitcases. “She lost her purse somewhere and was looking for it. Oh, there she is.”

The men smiled at the blond who was racing towards them. They hadn’t gotten mad at her for telling their secret. She was Sara’s best friend and best friends told each other things, and the fact that Ashley talked to her parents was a good thing. It was just a bit of unfortunate timing that had actually worked out for the best.

“Hey Ash, you ready to go?” Tony asked.

“Yep! I found it!” she waved her Hello Kitty purse triumphantly, ignoring Sara’s eyeroll. Sara thought that anything with pink on it was too girly to live.

The car ride back to the house that Tony and Gibbs now shared was filled with girlish giggles and conversation about summer plans. It was so blessedly normal that you could almost forget how precarious life was, and that was one lesson Gibbs had learned in spades. He kept constant alert as he drove, not resorting to his usual heavy handed tactics of driving, or as Tony called them, his ‘NASCAR school of driving technique’. Something was tickling the edge of his instincts and he couldn’t shake the feeling.

*

The man kept far back, just following long enough to verify where the car would be going before heading back to his apartment. He had things to finish and it was almost time for prayer.

*

The day before they’d been fired, Gibbs and Tony had bought a house together in a well established neighborhood. It was a two story, what Tony called an ‘English knock-off’, but the oak trim inside and the four bedrooms, large backyard and a walkout basement had made them decide it was the house for them. Gibbs' boat had been liberated from the old house by a construction crew that made an opening in less than two hours, removed the boat to a trailer, and then installed French doors because Tony said it would up the resale value of the house. And of course Tony was right.

At the new house the girls stampeded up to the room that they’d set aside for Sara. It was pretty basic for now, two double beds and plain white walls, but Abby and Sara had plans to decorate during the summer. This plan had alarmed Gibbs slightly, and he’d given Abby the ‘look’ when he’d politely asked that black be kept to a minimum. Abby had just giggled and now he was worried.

Tony gave Gibbs an absent kiss and went over to check the answering machine. There was the usual junk, vinyl siding sales and the like, then a familiar voice spoke.

“So, I hear from the grapevine that you two were fired for being gay. And you didn’t fight it? What’s the point of knowing a good lawyer if you don’t use them?” Retired Naval Captain Harmon Rabb’s voice was amused. “But hey, I thought the two of you were doing the horizontal mambo ages ago. Anyway, there are some people highly placed that are not pleased that you were fired. Don’t be surprised if you get called in soon. Just a heads up. Later, guys.”

The men exchanged surprised looks. “I wonder who asked Harm to call?” Tony mused out loud. After their rancorous introduction years before to Rabb as their prime murder suspect, they’d eventually come to a relatively easy working relationship. Then he’d been about to marry Colonel Sarah Mackenzie, when he’d suddenly retired and she left for England by herself. There had been no explanations.

Gibbs shrugged. “We’ll find out sooner or later. Sooner if they call before Tuesday since we’re leaving then, or later since they’ll have to wait until we get back,” he said firmly.

Tony smiled. “Good, I like all of the time off.” His hazel eyes smoldered and he watched Gibbs blue eyes start to heat up, then the pounding of preteen feet woke them up to the fact they weren’t alone in the house. “Damn.”

“Dad?” Sara called down the stairs. “Can we go to Burger King?”

The men made faces at each other, but Tony nodded. “Sure, are you girls ready to go?”

“Yeah dad, I’m ~starving~!”

“Poor baby, it’s that hollow leg. We’ll have to see if Ducky can cut that off for you,” Gibbs teased and the girls said,

“Ewwwww,” in unison. 

~  
Gibbs woke up, not sure what ~had~ awoken him until he heard muffled girlish giggles coming from Sara’s room. He sighed and snuggled down, pressing against Tony’s back, his nose against Tony’s neck. It was one of his favorite positions to sleep with Tony, along with Tony’s head on his chest, or his head on Tony’s chest, or Tony spooned up behind him…he snorted, hell, he liked them all.

“Your thinking is keepin’ me awake,” Tony grumbled softly, voice muffled from his head being partially under his pillow.

“Sorry,” Gibb whispered, nuzzling the back of Tony’s neck. The phone ringing made Tony lift up the pillow to glare peevishly at it.

“Do you want me to get it?” Sara called through the door.

“No, honey. We’ve got it,” Gibbs called back as he reached over Tony and grabbed the ringing phone. “Gibbs!” he barked.

“Good morning to you too, Jethro,” came a familiar and very amused voice.

“Tom,” Gibbs said as he flopped onto his back and lifted his wrist to check the time. 0800. That was a surprise, he normally didn’t sleep in that late, but Tony had kept him busy. He idly wondered if there was scientific research on how much more energy was expended during sex if you had to keep absolutely silent because of kids in the house.

“How’s Homeland Security treating you, sir?”

“Not bad. How are you doing, Jethro? I understand that DiNozzo has a daughter that we hadn’t heard about?”

Gibbs could hear the caring of an old friend who knew his background and he smiled. “It’s great, Tom. Really. Sara is a great kid, though I’m sure her mother had more to do with that than Tony.”

“Hey!” Tony’s head popped up from the bed and Gibbs laughed as he tried to avoid the swat.

Tom could hear the scuffle and grinned. “Now boys, try and settle down,” he said.

“Settle down!” Gibbs said as he pinned Tony down and kissed him hard. He pulled back and settled against the pillow, “So, I think that there’s a reason why you called, sir?”

Ah, back to business. That was Gibbs all over. “How about both of you come into NCIS today?”

Gibbs raised his eyebrows and glanced over at his lover. “For how long?”

“Just for an hour or so, if that is all right?”

“Hang on,” Gibbs covered the phone. “Tom wants us to come in to NCIS today, for about an hour. What should we do with the girls?”

Tony thought for a moment. “Sara’s responsible. She’s going to be 13 soon, and Ashley’s trustworthy too. You think we could leave them for a couple of hours?”

Gibbs shrugged. At 13 he’d had chores and often went off by himself for hours at a time, but that was then. “It’s a safe neighborhood but it’s up to you, babe. We can bring them with us…” He felt a little uneasy, but knew that you’d had to give kids wings or they’d never grow.

Uncertain for a moment, Tony shook his head. “They’ll be fine. I don’t want to be gone for more than 2 hours, tops.”

“Okay,” he put the phone back to his ear. “We’ll be in at 1000, sir.”

“See you then,” and the phone went dead.

**

Ashley giggled as Tony opened the front door again and asked if they were going to be all right by themselves.

“Dad!” Sara said with exasperation, her hands on her hips. “Mom let me stay by myself and the house survived! Geez Louise!”

Tony held up his hands. “Okay, just checking. Love you, be good,” he said, leaving hastily as his daughter glared at him.

“Overprotective much?” Ashley giggled again and Sara rolled her eyes.

“Oh man, you have ~no~ idea. And Jethro is the same way.” Sara shrugged, leaving the vagaries of adult male behavior behind. “Let’s go upstairs and play Minecraft. Maya said she would get on today.” And the two girls pounded up the stairs. Gibbs had once joked that teenage girls had two speeds, all ahead go, and coma.

**

The man walked like he had the right to be in the neighborhood, but he knew that there were mostly empty houses around since in America, wives worked as well as husbands, so he knew his chances of being noticed were slight.

**

Tony smiled as Gibbs pinned the visitor badge onto his collar. It was overprotective, and kinda sweet. A squeal made them both turn and then Abby was in their arms, kissing their faces enthusiastically.

“Get a grip, Abs. It’s not like you haven’t seen us recently,” Gibbs said but he kissed her back.

“Yeah, but you ~belong~ here,” she said, unable to stop smiling. McGee was behind her, smiling shyly at them. Ziva was on the phone but gave them a quick wave.

The sound of tapping heels made them look over and see a very uncomfortable Director Sheppard standing as if she was waiting for someone.

“Hello, Jen,” Gibbs said equably. Tony didn’t say anything, he still held a grudge from the way she’d publicly fired them.

“Jeth..Agent...” she made a face. “Mr. Gibbs, Mr. DiNozzo. If you’d please come up to MTAC?”

As they walked, Tony leaned over and whispered, none too quietly, “If I’d known we’d have to speak to her I’d have stayed home.”

Gibbs could see by the stiffening shoulders under the bright red power suit that she’d heard the whisper, and nudged Tony with an eyeroll. Once inside of the large theater like room, the men could see that their former boss, Tom Morrow was there as was Admiral Chegwidden and Harmon Rabb and Ducky and Secretary Sheffield as well.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Gibbs said dryly.

Sheffield snorted. “I was called by my son who was outraged by your firing, which was the first I’d heard about it. Next my crying grandbaby called and told me she’d made a mistake and hurt her best friend’s dads. ~Then~ A.J. called and raked me over the coals for supporting an illegal termination.”

“Well, sir, to be fair,” Gibbs began with an amused look at Tony, “We did kiss in front of everyone.”

Rabb grinned. “You were provoked.”

Sheppard made a face at this. She’d been disciplined by SECNAV for her inappropriate behavior that was in direct contrast of the new government policy on gays and lesbians. She’d then been notified that she was on her way out of NCIS and was feeling bitter.

Rabb’s comment made Tony snort, and glare at the Director but he subsided when Gibbs tapped him gently on the back of the head, more of a caress than anything. A.J. smiled at the pure affection the gesture, amazed at how much the very rigid Gibbs had changed.

“Gentlemen, it’s like this. We need you back at NCIS,” Sheffield said. “I don’t care if you’re in a relationship, or how long you’ve been in one or whatever, as long as there’s no hanky panky at work then your private lives are your own,” SECNAV added firmly.

A.J. Chegwidden looked over at Rabb, and Tony suddenly realized their part in all of this. Rabb and the Admiral were in a relationship as well. He also remembered hearing something about a new GLAD office that was staffed with two lawyers who’d been former military…huh.

“We’ve always been circumspect, sir,” Gibbs assured SECNAV seriously. “But we do need some more time off. We’ve promised our daughter and Ashley that we’re going to take them to Busch Gardens .”

Sheffield raised his hands in mock alarm. “Far be it from me to interfere in my grandbaby’s vacation plans!” and there were chuckles from the men in the room.

The Director paused at the doorway, looking back at the men. Our daughter. Another secret that they’d kept and she was violently jealous of. Jethro and DiNozzo were raising DiNozzo’s daughter together as a family, something that she’d desperately wanted for years but she had let the excitement of being an agent take precedence, and the years had just passed. She thought she had time, thought that she and Jethro could make a go of it this time once he’d gotten over what he considered her betrayal. She’d obviously been mistaken. 

*~*

The man sauntered around the side of the house, slipping into the backyard through the side gate. He checked in the windows and was assured no one was in the house besides his targets.

*~*

Ashley was giggling at the computer screen, when her stomach growled. “I’m hungry.”

Busy with her own character, Sara looked at her friend. “Dad bought some of that cheesy popcorn, it’s on the kitchen counter. As long as we don’t get it everywhere we can eat it up here.”

Bouncing to her feet, Ashley nodded, “Keep moving my mouse, would you so I don’t get killed by a creeper?” and she dashed downstairs. Sara hummed absently as she jiggled Ashley’s mouse and mined for gold to buy more things for her world.

 

In the kitchen Ashley was in the ‘fridge rummaging for something to drink, when there was a crash of glass that startled her. “Sara?” She peered around the corner and her heart stopped as she caught sight of the man, dressed in black, a gun in his hand reaching through the glass he’d broken to open the door. “Oh no,” she whispered, turned around and flew up the stairs.

** 

Sara glanced up in alarm as Ashley stumbled in, face white and said, “Someone just broke in downstairs!”

“C’mon,” Sara grabbed Ashley by the hand and raced into her dad’s room, shutting the door as quietly as she could. “Ash, grab the phone and go into the closet and call 911.” Ashley nodded, grabbing the cordless phone and dashing into the large walk-in closet.

Sara went first to the box on the large mahogany dresser where her dad’s kept their tie clasps and got out a set of keys, then knelt on the floor and yanked out Jethro’s gun case and opened it, pulling out the pistol that he kept inside. Her hands trembled as she unlocked the trigger guard and checked to see if it was loaded, then she shoved the case back and scrambled into the closet when she heard the door rattle.

Ashley was quivering in terror, the phone held loosely in her hands, her eyes blank. Sara made a sound and grabbed the phone and dialed 911, tucking the phone between her shoulder and ear even as she kept the gun pointing at the door.

“911, what is your emergency?”

“Someone’s broken into my house,” Sara whispered. “He’s upstairs!”

“Where are you?” the operator asked as she automatically dispatched the police.

“In my dad’s closet,” she said quietly, then jumped as she heard the door to the bedroom crash open. She ignored the operator and laid the phone down, glancing over her shoulder at her friend. “Ashley, lay down behind the pants,” she whispered and her friend did, trying to suppress her whimpers by covering her mouth with her hand.

The man was getting frustrated, he’d searched the house for the girls, he been watching closely and he knew they were here.

“Oh, little girls?” he called slyly. “I know you’re here…”

A muffled noise from the closet made him smile and he walked over, flinging it open. What he did not expect was the pale girl sitting on the floor with her own weapon, nor the murderous punches to his chest that made him stagger back and collapse. The last thing he saw before he died was the triumphant look on the girl’s face.

“He’s dead,” she said. “Ashley? He’s dead,” Sara was proud her voice didn’t shake, because as she eyed the body with the rapidly spreading blood pool, it was a whole lot yuckier than she ever expected. She picked up the phone and spoke to the operator, “It’s okay, I shot him.”

Ashley had crept forward to lean against Sara’s back but steadfastly kept her eyes shut, she’d seen enough dead bodies.

The operator closed her eyes. “Honey, are you okay?” She been terrified for the girl, and the gunshots had actually made her jump in her seat, bringing her supervisor over to listen with her as the incident unfolded.

“I’m fine. I need to call my dad.”

“Honey, don’t hang…” the operator shook her head at the dial tone.

*

Tony was chatting quietly with Harm while Gibbs sorted the details of their return when his phone rang. “Just a second,” he told Harm. “DiNozzo.”

“Daddy?” Sara said, her voice thin and high.

“Sara? What’s wrong?” Tony said sharply and Gibbs broke off his conversation and spun around.

“I shot a man, daddy,” Sara said. “He broke into the house…” her voice was starting to quiver.

“You shot a man?” Tony repeated blankly. Gibbs went so pale that A.J. and Ducky each grabbed an arm to keep him upright.

A loud noise downstairs and the call of ‘Alexandria Police, is anyone here?’ made her sigh. “Daddy, when are you coming home? The police are here.”

“We’re headed there right now, sweetheart. Are you and Ashley okay?” Tony asked as he raced out of the room, Gibbs, SECNAV and the others on his heels.

“We’re okay,” Sara sighed. Tears of relief were sliding down her face as the police poked their heads into the room, she almost wanted to laugh at the surprise on their faces. “I really, ~really~ deserve to go to Busch Gardens , though,” she said.

Behind her, Ashley giggled weakly. “Me too.”

Gibbs wasn’t sure how many traffic laws he broke, but they arrived back at the house in record time to find their home overrun by police, newly arrived Crime Scene techs and ambulances. Tony was out of the car before he’d even put it in park,

“Sara!”

“Daddy!”

Ashley and Sara were side by side on a gurney, a blanket around their shoulders despite the warmth of the early summer day and Tony and Jethro smothered the girls in hugs, checking them over and making sure for themselves that they were okay.

The other men pulled up a few minutes later and Sheffield got out and went to his grand daughter, Ducky showed his credentials and went into the house while Harm and A.J moved to speak to a policeman they recognized. “What in the hell happened, Bill?” A.J. asked while Harm glanced around the semi-controlled chaos.

The old cop shook his head admiringly. “The guy broke in and I guess he didn’t expect resistance from a couple of girls. The little brunette said she got her dad’s gun, made the other girl hide and when he opened the closet door, she fired, two to the heart.”

“She’s a cop’s kid,” Harm said softly, gazing over at Tony and Gibbs as they hugged and kissed their daughter.

 

Tony wiped the tears off of his daughter’s face, “I’m so sorry, Bear. We shouldn’t have left you by yourselves.” He was filled with guilt about what happened. They should’ve brought the girls with them.

“It’s okay, dad,” Sara said, relaxing between her two fathers. She and Ashley were safe, she’d done what she had to do and they were safe. That was all that mattered right then.

“Tony?” Ashley said from her grandfather’s arms. “I think it was the same man who was in Las Vegas ,” she said softly.

“How can you tell?” Gibbs asked curiously.

“I remember seeing the man’s shoes. They were black gym shoes with a big P on the side,” she said. There was a quick look and an entire conversation silently exchanged between the men, Tony staying with their daughter while Gibbs went into the house to see if Ashley was right.

Ducky was kneeling by the body but he glanced over when Gibbs entered the bedroom. “Jethro. Young Sara is a crack shot, two to the heart.”

“She said she used my old service weapon I keep under the bed,” Gibbs said quietly, nodding when the crime scene investigator held it up.

“Our perp was carrying a 9mm Heckler and Koch with a silencer,” the tech said. He pointed to the obviously professional grade weapon that had dropped to the floor.

Gibbs suppressed a shudder, they had been entirely too close to losing Sara. He knelt down to checkout the shoes, and saw that Ashley was right, leather gym shoes with a big P on the side. Distinctive. He’d have to see if they had matching prints in Vegas.

Outside, Tony was watching his daughter as she and Ashley spoke to investigators. “I’m not letting her out of my sight ever again,” he said tightly.

“Don’t overreact, Agent DiNozzo,” Sheffield said softly. “No one could predict that he would come after the girls.”

“Wasn’t Ashley supposed to watched by the FBI?” he asked Sheffield .

“That ended a week back, and don’t think I won’t say something to them,” Sheffield assured him.

Tony shook his head, arms crossed over his chest and his lips tight. He’d almost screwed up and got his baby killed. He watched as she was escorted back by the detective who’d spoken to her, her smile still as bright as ever.

“Dad?”

“Yeah, Bear?”

“I did good?”

Tony couldn’t help but smile at his daughter, pulling her close for another hug. “Yeah, you did real good. You kept your head and saved yourself and Ashley and that’s all we can ask.” Sara nodded and looked at the house. He wondered what kind of nightmares she’d have now.

Gibbs came out with Ducky and Sara went over and hugged them. Gibbs looked up and he and Tony’s eyes locked. They were going to need to talk.

*)*

Ducky smiled as Sara played with the Corgis, chatting with his mother. Tony and Jethro were out back, both men having been severely shaken up by the day and neither handling it very well. He pushed himself to his feet, “Mother, can you watch Sara for a moment?” Sara rolled her eyes at him but smiled while his mother assured him she could watch one girl, thank you very much.

He walked outside and saw Gibbs with his arms wrapped around Tony, chest to back, neither man speaking.

“Is everything alright?”

Tony sighed and rested his head back on Gibbs shoulder. “Boss was telling me I shouldn’t blame myself for today.”

Ducky nodded. “He’s wrong, you should indeed blame yourself.” Gibbs jaw dropped and Tony had shocked hurt in his eyes.

“You see, dear boy, you ~should~ blame yourself for teaching your daughter how to shoot a gun, how to think clearly in a dangerous situation, and oh, yes, how to protect her friend. Blame away!” The old ME finished, sarcastically cheerful.

Relaxing, Gibbs snorted at his old friend’s black humor and Tony rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay, I get it,” Tony said, accepting a kiss on his cheek from his lover.

“Good, let’s go inside for something to eat, shall we?” Ducky waited until the younger men joined him, then said, “You know, this reminds me of an incident when I was in the Armed Forces…” and away they went.

Tony was fast asleep, his head over Gibbs’ heart and Gibbs was starting to drowse off when their bedroom door opened. They were staying in Ducky’s old monstrosity of a house while until the FBI and cleaning crews finished with theirs and the doors squeaked big time.

“Daddy?” Sara whispered.

“Are you okay, honey?” Jethro whispered back.

The shadow at the door shook its head. “I can’t sleep, can I talk to you?”

Jethro gently moved Tony over and whispered, “Come here, baby,” thanking his lucky stars that he and Tony had gone to bed with t-shirts and shorts on. Sara crawled up onto the high bed and he placed her between himself and Tony, stroking her hair gently.

“What’s up?”

“You’ve killed people before, right?” she asked.

“Yep, both in war and as an NCIS agent. You don’t want to, but you have to. In war because they’re the enemy and they’re trying to kill you, and as an agent because they’re dangerous and trying to kill you or someone innocent. It’s never easy, Princess.”

“Do you think he was a bad man?”

Gibbs sighed and pressed a kiss to her head. “I think he was the worst kind of man. I think he was a terrorist, baby. And he didn’t care if innocent people got hurt. You absolutely did the right thing, and everyday I’m going to look at you and be so damn proud of how you did,” Gibbs said quietly, his voice choked.

Tony opened his eyes, “Me too, Bear. Never doubt you did the right thing.” He whispered, leaning over to kiss her cheek. His hand moved over her head and took his lover’s, and gently squeezed. They’d made it through this crisis, they could make it through anything.

“Thanks, dads,” she whispered and dozed off.

Gibbs wiped his eyes with his free hand, then brought his and Tony’s hand to his lips and kissed gently. 

*~**

Water, water everywhere and he knew who to blame.

Gibbs shook his hair, the water flying to spray his daughter who squealed.

“Hey, don’t come crying to me, little girl. You’re the one who made us stand here and get soaked.” Sara had ‘innocently’ dragged them over to watch the large innertube ride slide down the artificial hill. What she hadn’t said that when they hit the bottom they’d splash everyone on the bridge above. Some investigator he was, watching Tony’s ass and not noticing the puddled water until it was entirely too late.

Ashley was giggling with Sara and the two men could only smile. Even after the trauma of the past week, both girls had bounced back magnificently. It was as if the death of the shooter had closed some door for them and they’d put it behind them. Not to say that there weren’t nightmares, but so far they’d been few and far between.

 

Tony made a face and yanked off his t-shirt, twisting it tightly to get the water out. He pretended he was going to rat-tail Ashley, then as he was about to slip it on, he caught Jethro’s eye and flushed. The man was positively leering at him, and oh mama, he wanted some of that.

“Dads, we need to change into dry clothes,” Sara said, with that superior lilt in her voice that showed the older men that they’d really missed the boat ‘cause they were going to have to walk around in their wet things for the rest of the day.

Shit, he hated smart ass almost 13 year olds, Tony thought to himself as he eyed his smirking child. “You’re gonna get it, kiddo. Just you wait.”

“Gotta catch me first!” she challenged with a giggle and the girls ran to the restroom.

Gibbs chuckled. “They got us good, Tony. You know this means war.”

“Oh yeah, no doubt about it,” Tony agreed, leaning against his lover while they waited for the girls to come out.

“Thank you, Tony,” Gibbs said, draping an arm over Tony’s damp shoulder.

“For what?” Tony asked curiously.

Gibbs pressed a kiss to Tony’s mouth. “For giving me this,” he said seriously.

“Sex?”

The hopeful look in Tony’s eyes made him chuckle. “Nice try, but we can’t tonight. Adjoining room, remember?”

“Damn,” Tony pouted. “Then what are you thanking me for?”

Sara and Ashley came bouncing back out, talking a mile a minute about boys or something, and Gibbs inclined his head towards them with a smile. “That.”

Tony’s face softened as he gazed at his daughter. “Thank you for loving us, boss.”

“Oh, no problem,” Gibbs said with feeling.

“Dads! We’re starved!” Sara announced with drama. The girls giggled when Tony rolled his eyes.

“Fine, let’s get you more food. Geez, Bear, I think we’ve spent more on food than the tickets!”

“Hollow leg,” Gibbs intoned solemnly. “You know Ducky can take care of that for you.”

“Dad! Eww!” Sara said and the men laughed.

**

After a couple of weeks the investigation into who the shooter was had reached a dead end with the FBI, but Abby and McGee had came up with an idea. The i.d. the man had on him had been a fake, but Abby and McGee had walked Gibbs and Tony’s neighborhood with a laptop and sat connection until they’d found the dead man’s car, and traced it by its title back to his apartment in McLean.

As soon as McGee and Abby arrived back at NCIS, she’d scurried to her lab, and McGee went to find Ziva and avoid the Director who’d been on a tear since the shooting. The rumor was they were trying to find someone to take over from her, and he kind of hoped it would be soon.

“McGee, what are you doing?” Ziva asked from behind him and made him suppress a girly yelp.

He turned and glared at her. “I was ~looking~ for you!”

“Why?” she asked curiously.

He grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her into the coffee room, “Grab your weapon. We’re going out.”

She eyed him for a long moment, then nodded. “Very well, I’ll meet you in the garage.”

As he drove, he filled her in on what he and Abby had discovered, and she smiled. “Very good, McGee.”

Once they arrived Ziva picked the lock, and they went in carefully, mindful of any booby traps. McGee grimacing at the coolness, it seemed the air conditioner had been working overtime.

“Doesn’t look like anyone is home,” she commented after they cleared the apartment.

Rolling his eyes, McGee said, “Because he died in Gibbs and Tony’s bedroom, Ziva.”

“Mm, he might have had a girlfriend,” Ziva said as she pulled on gloves and began to sort through mail. “If Tony’s daughter was in Israel she’d be targeted for more training and possibly inclusion into Mossad. She had excellent instincts.”

“She’s ~twelve~!” McGee sputtered.

Ziva raised an elegant eyebrow at him and squinted. “Yes? What does that have to do with anything?”

Unable to cope with 12 year old assassins or whatever was going through Ziva’s warped mind, McGee sat at the computer and opened an unfinished document in Arabic. “Ah, Ziva, can you read this?”

She came over and looked over his shoulder and her eyes widened. McGee’s phone rang and he answered it as Ziva swore behind him.

“Yeah, Abby?”

“You’d better get what you can find. The FBI is on its way.”

“How the…Shit!” He hung up and pressed print and the letter started to print quickly on the inkjet hooked up beside the old desktop. “I take it this is important because the FBI is on its way to take this over.”

“Yes, bring it.”

Tim nodded and picked up the printed sheets, blowing over them before folding them up and sticking them into his breast pocket. He shut down the computer, no need to make it easy for their brethren in law enforcement, and he and Ziva pretended that they’d just arrived when the FBI agents came in and unceremoniously kicked them out.

In the car, Tim drove while Ziva took the letter and opened it. “My god, McGee, this is priceless. It says here that he is very upset at what he thought were improper orders to his team. That just because he’d been out of town did not mean that anyone could order them around, especially not for something as trivial as a dead girl.”

“So the girl who got hit by the car was the reason?” Tim asked and Ziva nodded.

“He continues to complain, bah, what a baby, that they’ve been exposed and the greater plan is now at risk and he decided that he was going to ‘cleanse’ the operation so he himself would not be exposed. Hmm, he started to really harangue the man but did not finish except for saying he would have to start over with new people.”

“Huh!” McGee grunted. They were getting way too many terrorists for his personal comfort. Give him a computer hacker any day.

It took the FBI longer to figure out, but when they did it was a blockbuster of a discovery. The items taken from the apartment led them to yet another sleeper cell, and McGee, Ziva and Abby were all given commendations, if no public recognition, for a job well done.

Soon after Gibbs and Tony were back at work, and a new Director, someone Gibbs knew from the West Coast, and everything in McGee’s world settled back into its proper place.

“What are you grinning about, Probie?” Tony suspiciously asked the smiling man.

McGee couldn’t stop the grin on his face. “Nothing.”

Gibbs strode in. “We have a case,” he announced and everyone grabbed their weapons and kits.

Tony smirked as he heard McGee begin to whistle, ‘Back in the Saddle Again.’

*~*

In Las Vegas Grissom was working in his office when there was a burst of laughter from Nick and Sara in the hall. Curious, he got up and poked his head out to see Greg preening in front of the other two CSI’s.

“What’s going on?” he asked, looking over his glasses at them. Sara muffled a laugh behind her hand and Nick just grinned.

Greg grinned too. “Look what Ashley Sheffield sent me,” he said and he stepped closer so Grissom could see more clearly.

Grissom smiled, then chuckled. “I love it.”

On the dark blue t-shirt that Greg wore with such pride, in Old English gold lettering was written,

‘I am your Knight in Shining Armor.’

**~

The end  
*~*


End file.
